The Undoing of My Reality
by LunaSuburbia
Summary: Luna killed her "father" to escape his wrath. She's swiftly taken away by her childhood friends to Camp half blood, where in the chaos and confusion, she finds herself drawn to the kid with the mechanical dragon.
1. JJ Bittenbinder, the Cycop.

Officer JJ Bittenbinder, the Cycop

Often times they'll tell you that they didn't want this:

That they didn't want to be a demigod.

They'll tell you to run-- That it's safer to be a mortal, living a normal life; As normal as you can get it, in fact.

This is simply a lie. A lie told so that people like you wouldn't pry into our world. Yes, while sometimes it's safer to try to be mortal, but that godly life will catch up one way or another. Or, in my case, when your mortal life isn't safe at all.

My troubles began more or less when my parents got divorced. I say parents, I mean my mom and my brother's father. As you can probably guess, I'm the demigod here. My brother isn't. His father is mortal, human and normal, and I'm the bastard child.

So my parents divorced when I was ten. Okay, no big deal. Fourty-one percent of marriages end in divorce, we know this. What made this suck is that my mom completely disappeared. She left and never returned. I never understood why, but i'd find out eventually. You will as well. I was left to be raised by a father that wasn't even my own father, but once again I had no idea. Neither did my brother. We were both dumbasses, and my dad was too drunk to realize I didn't look like him. I didn't share the same dark hair and blue eyes that he and my brother had. I took after my mom, who had long, curly red hair and auburn eyes that almost looked red in the sunlight. She was beautiful.

I'm getting off track. Back to my tragic backstory.

I mentioned earlier that my dad was an alcoholic. He's also an alcoholic Russian, which makes it ten times worse. Most of the time before the divorce he was too drunk to speak english, so I had no choice but to become fluent in Russian. So did my brother.

But hey, at least I'm getting in touch with my

cultural roots, right?

He was like that after the divorce, too. An angry, alcoholic Russian father.

You can see where I'm going with this, when I said my mortal life wasnt safe? Yeah, you're getting it. Good. I don't want to talk about that anymore than I need to.

The day I was introduced to this bullshit was a Thursday afternoon in autumn. It was cold enough for me to wear a hoodie, I had no idea it was the last time i'd wear the damn thing. I came home to three police cars and an ambulance parked in the street, a sight that I was expecting to see. I wasn't surprised at all, shockingly. Maybe I read too many books.

The crime scene tape stopped me from coming too far inside, I had to show my ID and family photos to prove I lived there. A police officer pulled me to the side of the house, and broke the news to me:

"Miss Pierce, I'm afraid to say that your father has passed away. Cardiac arrest." He spoke in a low tone, a comforting tone. He was so calm about it. I didn't know how to react. I knew this was coming, but what should I say? "Oh, I know, officer. He's an asshole alcoholic?"

Nope. Instead I broke down crying, as one would. I wasn't crying for the reason that the officer thought,though. I was simply too overwhelmed.

He's gone. Finally. I'm free; I'm safe.

I remember that's what was running through my mind.

Of all the things to happen to me in the past few years, from the divorce, to my best friends disappearing when I was thirteen, I didn't expect my dad to die. And I didnt expect to be so relieved about it.

After I calmed my tits, the officer began to ask me a few questions. The usual alibi (school), did my dad's family have a history of heart issues (yes), you know the drill. Now, I'm assuming you're here because you like this type of story. You've probably read a book or two. You know that this is where things get odd.

The officer's questions began to get more and more personal.

"Where's your mother?" He asked me, and I had stuttered out:

"Eh?" I perk up. "left. A-A while ago, sir." (Note- you notice my inner dialogue is a lot more confident than I actually am. Get used to this, I'm not the most socially adept.)

"Why do you look nothing like the males in your family?"

"I-I don't know, sir." By this point I grew so uncomfortable I had to put space between the officer and I. I was standing with my back against the side of the house, my feet nervously digging into the mulch. I fiddled with my hoodie sleeves.

"Are you aware that your father isn't your real father?"

Well boy fucking howdy, that was news to me, officer JJ Bittenbinder. I look up, my eyes widening a bit. "Eh?" I pushed up my glasses to look at his face better, and that was the worst decision I ever made. I noticed things about him, things that werent there before. His eyes are a bit too close together, his brow bone a bit too prominent. His bottom jaw jutted out a bit more. He basically looked like an orc. I felt like any second he was going to say "now I don't want to see you treat any of these books poorly." Or some shit like that.

I, being the pushover I was, could only stand there with my mouth slightly agape. The poor lad could probably see the bits of black lipstick in my teeth, or how red my tongue was from my cherry pushpop from lunch.

The officer leans forward.

"Answer. Me."

I inhale, my voice not working. I let out the softest "no, sir." I've ever said. I could almost see my father in him. The officer's eyes shared the same piercing blue my father's had.

The more I looked at him the more he began to change. I could see his lower incisors jutting out from his lip, and he had grown exceptionally tall and buff in the interaction. His eyes were so close together I could see that they were actually merging into one eye. His voice had gotten deeper, and his officer uniform was exceptionally small. I wanted to run. I wanted to run so badly, but for whatever reason, my fight or flight wasnt working. I couldn't move. I should be scrambling to safety right now, how is no one seeing this police officer turn into a fucking Cyclops???

"Your father isn't your real father, Alioluna." His words made my heart drop to my stomach, the color drained from my face. No one knows my legal name, they'd have to look it up. My dad isn't my real dad? Fuck that, he never treated me like a daughter anyway.

"Wh-whwhat.." I couldn't speak coherently at this point, I was panicking too much. A full on Cyclops is playing Maury, telling me that my dad isn't my dad. This is around the time my body decided to start working again, and I broke off into a sprint. I couldn't, however, get two steps in, because mr. One Eyed freak over here decided to grab me by my hoodie. This not only choked me a bit, which if it weren't for the situation I would have enjoyed, but also triggered what the kids call PTSD. I could only let out a quiet yelp as I was pretty much thrown into a bush.

This cycop dude pulled out a club, from out of nowhere, saying something along the lines of "your father is a God, Alioluna!" But... I was too scared and disoriented to even care about that. I had enough intelligence in me to grab a steak light from the ground, and use it as a weapon. I held it out as a warning, squinting. I didn't even register my glasses were somewhere other than my face.

Mr. Cycop raised his club to bash my brains in, everything was happening in slow motion at this point. I raised my steak to block, maybe stab his ankle, but I didn't get a chance. An arrow pierced his ugly ass head, and his club was tugged away via a ball with a long string.

It took me a second, I didnt even register that a Cycop was disarmed with poi. I watched in shock as the Cycop dropped to the ground from the brain impalement, then was shot again in the eye for good measure. I look in the direction of where the arrows were coming from, which was behind me, and I saw a sight I thought I would never see.

"E-eh??"

Oliver and Will Nelson, my friends who went missing three years ago.

My jaw dropped, and I scrambled up. My legs trembled, and I was just... In awe. Everything began to register as the Cycop turned to a golden dust. Is this a concussion? What happened.

"O-Oliver.. Will?" I asked quietly as the two run towards me, enveloping me in a well needed hug. It was only then that I realized how much I missed these two. I missed Will's colorful faux dreadlocks, Oliver's electric blue hair. I missed them.

"Hey, Luna." Oliver whispered in my ear. I could feel the grin in their voice. They pull away as Will does.

"I know it's been a while, but we need to get going. Pack light, we'll answer questions on the highway." Will ushers me along, her hands warm on the small of my back as she guides me into my own home.

"Wh..wait why do I need to pack?" I ask, looking up at her. She's taller. In her twenties now. She smiles reassuringly.

"You're a demigod to put it simply, and we're taking you to a safer place. It'll be okay, just go upstairs and pack. We'll get coffee on the way there."

Coffee... God I needed some. I nodded, then ran upstairs. I packed a bags worth of belongings, which meant clothes, hygiene stuff, and one thing I've always wanted. I creeped into my dad's old room, and pulled out his walkman from the closet with a soft smile. My mom made me a mixtape on a cassette, and I can listen to it now. I shove that in my bag with my headphones, and head back downstairs. The siblings are waiting for me on the couch, oliver sitting on the back of it.

"Ready? Oh when did you learn how to skateboard?" They look at the skateboard tucked under my arm.

"A while ago... Can- can we leave?" I ask. Will hands me my glasses, good as new.

"Of course. Let's go." She smiles once again. I smile back softly as we all pile into her red convertible.

And away we went.


	2. Road Trip

Baptized in bloody water. I'll make you famous one way...

Or another.

The lyrics blared from my headphones in a low quality, with the occasional static. I found that my walkman has some buffers and glitches, some things to be fixed. Sometimes I had to hit the side of it to get it working again. Nonetheless, I could listen to music just fine. My mom put songs on there that she thought I would like. Apparently, an obscure banjo guy singing about Jeffree Dahmer reminded her of me. Shit still slapped, though.

At that time I was sitting along the backseat, no seatbelt. I had my cat blanket draped in my lap, laying on a unicorn pillow pet. My bag was in the trunk, my walkman in my lap as well. I had my glasses off as well, they were on the floor, my coffee in the cup holder. I stared at the ceiling, blankly, assessing my situation and trying to figure out what was going on.

The song skipped. I hit the walkman again. Oliver looked over.

"You good?" They asked me, grinning widely. I glanced up at them, meeting their chocolate brown eyes.

"Eh? O-oh, yea I'm fine. This darn thing just.." I could barely hear myself over the vibrations of Will's old car, but they seemed to understand me well, nodding their head.

"I'm not one inclined to fixing things. I'm the odd one out at the hephaestus cabin, all I can do is make detailed Skyrim armor. But I do know a guy who could upgrade your walkman." They ran their fingers through their electric blue hair. "I'll introduce you to him. He's a night owl like you are, I'm sure he'll like the brain break."

"Oh... Oh I don't want to bother-"

"No...! I insist, it won't be any trouble, Lulu." I missed that nickname. Not. Luna was already a nickname, I go by it because the majority of people can't fucking pronounce Alioluna. It isn't hard! "Ah-Leo-luna" see?

Oliver looked back at the road, placing their feet on the dashboard as Will drove.

"Ollie, I'm glad you're trying to help Luna get friends, but I really think we should tell her where we're going." Will sipped her tea, then set it back in the cupholder.

"Oh! Right." Ollie turned toward me again.

"You're going to camp halfblood. It's where people like us can stay safe from monsters. They like to eat us, we taste good apparently. Anyway, we're heading there. Will and I are year round campers. And since you don't have a family-"

"Oliver! Rude!" Will cut them off.

"It's true.." I mumbled, looking away as I paused my music. Oliver rolled their eyes.

"Anyway, I think you're gonna be a year round camper. You'll learn how to fight, heal, maybe you'll find out you have powers."

"Eh? Powers?" I asked.

"Yea! There's a kid who can summon the dead, another can control water, I know a guy who can control fire- same guy who's gonna fix your walkman." They seemed really happy, bouncing up and down. I smiled softly.

"We'll see... Whos my godly parent...?" I asked, but Will shook her head.

"We don't know. You'll have to get claimed. That could take a few seconds or a few years. I didn't find out I was an Apollo kid until months later." She drummed on the wheel.

"W-Wait, so you two aren't siblings-" I was confused. I always thought they were brother and sister?

"No, we are. We have the same mom. Just... Different dads." Oliver explained. I nodded. I'm stupid.

"Got it... So... I'm a demigod of a god to be determined, I'm going to a camp where I'm going to be safe, and...?"

"That's it. It's pretty straightforward. You'll learn as you go, I promise, Lulu." Oliver placed his feet back on the dashboard. The car fell silent again, and I pressed play on my walkman. The vibrations of the car, the smell of pine and coffee eventually lured me to sleep.

"Will?" Oliver asked, turning their head to face their sister.

"Hm?"

"Who do you think her father is?"

Will sighed. "How do you know her godly parent is her father?"

"I've met her mom. She looks exactly like her. Her mom may have been the one to disappear, but I know it has to be her father. He... He was an asshole. I hated him." Oliver explained, talking with their hands as well.

"She could very well be a Hades kid. Maybe even Ares, you remember elementary school. Hermes? Nah... She's too shy. I doubt she's Zeus or Posideon, she can't swim." Will listed off names, glancing toward her sibling, then back to the road. "You okay, Ollie?"

They sighed. "Yea, I just... I remember she used to do this thing, when I couldn't sleep."

"Mhm...?"

"She would touch my shoulder, or my cheek and say something in Russian... And then I would sleep. Like, immediately. No matter the time of day or how tired I am. She said she never knew why she said those words, they just... Came to her. What if she's Hypnos?"

"Hypnos?" Will shrugs. "She very well could be. Sleeps like a fucking rock. She'd be the only one though. The last ones all moved out of camp. They're rare, Oliver. Are you sure?"

They nod.

"Tell you what." Will smirks. "I'll give you 50 drachma if she's actually hypnos. You give me 50 drachma if she isn't."

"Deal." They hold out their hand to shake. Will shakes it, then gets back to driving.

I woke up when Will gently shook me. Her skin was warm, once again. She always was warm... She really was an Apollo kid all. I slowly sat up, putting on my glasses. It had to have been ten or eleven PM, I remember being grumpy when I woke up. I was met with her smiling face.

"We're at a motel." She explained. "It's safer inside than to sleep in a car. Cmon, Ollie's already got a room. We're gonna keep driving first thing in the morning."

I could only nod, unbuckling my seatbelt and exiting the car. She hands me my stuff, and I took it with a mumbled "thank you." The two of us walked into the motel, and up to a room. She knocked on the door to our room, and Oliver answered. They were shirtless, and appeared tired. They let us in without another word, and I crashed onto the bed, falling back asleep. I needed that. Badly.


	3. The Kid With the Dragon

Like Will had said, we left first thing in the morning. At least, not before taking advantage of breakfast. None of us had eaten since the night before, and we were all starving. After our bottomless pancakes were done, and our cups were full of tea and coffee, we all set out on the road again.

This time, it was silent. The car ride lasted only an hour. Oliver spent the time looking for licence plates with "kk" on it, Will was busy driving, and I was busy thinking, headphones in my ears.

This time, I was listening to a song about a wife getting revenge on an abusive husband. The song made a knot appear in my stomach, as the lyrics told about a shotgun rigged to go off when the front door opens. I skipped the song as soon as it came to that. It was too much for me at the time. I then listened to a song about loving someone so much you'd go to hell with them. That made me feel better.

Before I knew it, Will had turned to a gravel road. The bumpiness of the road and the slow car caused anxiety to shoot through my heart. What if she got lost? What will she do to me? I flinched at the thought, I could almost hear the hands slamming down on the dashboard, yelling about how I was a distraction. I could hear it so vividly, and the bumping around made it worse. Turn up your music. Turn it up. I squeezed my eyes shut, and the car stopped. That caused my anxiety to get worse. Oh no. Oh no Oh no she was gonna get mad at me. I was so done for. I-

"Luna?" Oliver's voice rang through my brain. They snapped their fingers and waved their hand in front of me. "Luna are you okay..? You're shaking." Their tone was calm. I opened my eyes.

"Eh?" What was I supposed to say? It was so stupid of me to get all worked up over a gravel road. I nodded. "N-nervous.." I breathed with a forced smile. They didn't seem to believe me, but nodded. I exited the car and grabbed all my stuff.

The fences were old and obviously hadn't been painted in a while. The sign at the entrance said "Camp Half-Blood" in Greek letters, that I could read with a simple adjust of my glasses. When did I ever understand Greek, I had no idea. Oh well. At that point, nothing surprised me. Despite the rugged look of the entrance and fencing, the camp was pretty nice. Given, I was too poor as a child to go to summer camps. This was the closest thing i'd get to Camp Rock. I took my time examining everything, but my eyes were glued to the woods nearby. I liked the woods by my old house, maybe I'll visit these woods more often.

Something caught my eye above me, and I looking up. On the top of my head, glowing a soft lilac color appeared to be a target. A small circle, inside two more rings. I wondered what that meant, not knowing the explanation. "Eh?" I let out a confused noise. Oliver and Will glanced at each other. The shorter of the two grinned and held out their palm. Will rolled her eyes and gave them a bag full of coins.

"What was that about?" Were they serious fucking betting on me?

"Nothing." Oliver grinned. They pocket their coins. "Anyway, you just got claimed. I think that's the fastest I've seen it."

Will nods. "I gotta go tell Chiron and stuff, update him. You do social stuff. Show her to the Hypnos cabin, get her cassette fixed and make her a weapon." Will waved her hand and headed off, toward a large house in the distance. I glanced toward Oliver.

"So... Hypnos, huh. That's my dad?" I asked them as they began to lead me towards a quaint looking cabin.

"Yep. And this is where you're staying." He opened the door, and revealed a cozy, sleepable looking cabin. The place was decorated with lilac walls, a dark floorboard, comfortable looking furniture, and had a pleasant scent of chamomile, lavender and vanilla. I smiled. Perfect. I set my stuff down, but still carried the cassette player gingerly in my hand, my headphones around my neck. "So... This." I gesture to the old device.

"Right! Follow me. I know where he is, I'm pretty sure. It's what... Eleven? Noon? Yeah, I know where he is. C'mon,Lulu!" They grabed my hand and pulled me out, which caused me to squeak out a soft "e-eh?!" That came out more like a yelp. They lead me all the way into the woods, and then some. The morning sun was now hidden by the thick trees, and they had to grab my hand to keep me from tripping over roots. Which I was thankful for, considering my clumsiness.

(You realize the author is stalling, because she forgot what the forge looked like. Lets go from memory!)

Oliver led me to a clearer spot in the woods, the grass clearly walked on frequently. Something in my heart told me we were at the right place, and I got that sinking feeling again. That sinking feeling that I get when I meet someone new. It was always hell. I never know what to say, I always fucked up and reverted back to my mother tongue. Or I stuttered too much. I took a deep breath and looked to Oliver, who also stood around for a bit.

"I don't know how your social anxiety is now, Luna. It was bad when we were together, so I'm assuming it's pretty much worse."

I nodded. They were dead fucking on, I can't properly interact with another person to save my life.

"This guy, Leo, he's..." They paused. Probably thinking about the right words to not scare me off. Too late! I was already scared, fuckaroo. "He can come off pretty strong, especially to people like you. Don't be put off guard, he's pretty similar to me, energy wise."

"So he's a chaotic, impulsive firecracker?"

"Yea but... Literally." I knew what they meant. I nodded and they full on kicked the rock. Which caused it to ring. Only then did I notice a handprint imprinted right smack dab in the middle. "Open the fuck up!! You know Damn well we can't open this thing from the outside!" They yelled, which caused me to flinch. "Sorry," they continue to whisper to me. "Either he's listening to music or doing loud things, we don't exactly have a choice of having a normal volume. Apparently, mechanical dragons are loud." I nodded once again, looking down to my shoes and fiddling with the cord of my headphones, still around my neck. My black nail polish was chipping, i'd redo it later.

"Oh Christ- fine!" A muffled voice comes from underground. Well I'll be damned.

See, what I was expecting when Oliver told me a kid in a forge is gonna fix my walkman was a dwarven blacksmith. I expected a three foot tall dwarf to greet me, with a big beard, like Tyrian Lannister or some shit. What I was absolutely not expecting was a scrawny attractive teenager. Except that's what came out when the doors open. And let me tell you, I was floored.

You know that yahoo answers person who said they saw someone so beautiful they almost cried? That's what it was like seeing Leo for the first time. Except instead of crying I was completely frozen, unable to say a word. No picture or description could do him justice, you'd have to see him for yourself. He was a little darker than Oliver, covered in little splotches of soot and dirt, which I didn't mind a bit. He hadn't cut his hair in a while, it was wild and curly, and I could not stop staring at it. His eyes were dark, like a black hole, but had this mischevious light to them that only a genius would have. While an average height person would go "that's a scrawny looking midget, get some rest, scrawny midget!" I, being 5'2, only came up to his chin. Which, took me a bit to get used to. I think all three of us in those woods were in denial about our heights.

But no, seriously, I was pretty much starstruck when I first saw him. While you're reading this in a long, awkward amount of time, this staring only lasted a few seconds. Before I knew it, Oliver pulled me out of my thoughts by unplugging my headphones from my walkman and handing it to him.

"Brain break! Can you fix this? Please??" They ask with a grin. Leo grabbed the walkman turning it in his hands and staring right at me, then back to Oliver.

"This? Yea, I can fix it no problem! Probably just needs new parts or somethin'... Is it hers?"

Oliver nodded in response, taking over the conversation, seeing that my voice wasn't working. But, that didnt stop Leo, he was still staring at me, looking me up and down. Is he checking me out? I didn't know, either way I was nervous.

"You must be new, I haven't seen you around. What's your name, sweetheart?" Leo proceeded to trip and stumble as he tried to lean on a nonexistent tree.

"Eh??" I looked toward Oliver, is this what they meant by coming off strong? Flirting? They shrug, snickering. Leo straightened himself up.

"Uh- ahem- what's your name?" This poor

motherfucker tried again. I could see his face was slightly red. Aww... That's cute.

It was my turn to speak? My name is Luna. Wait.. What's that in English again? I couldn't remember. Fuck, really? Now? I sit for a second before I manage to utter the one thing that came to mind:

"x-хорошенький..." Shit. Both Oliver and Leo looked at me, then to each other. I could feel my face heat up from embarassment. Fuck.

"Her name is Luna. She's a Hypnos kid. Just got here today." They explain, thoroughly saving my ass. Leo nods in thought.

"Hypnos, eh? What, you're finally fed up with me not sleeping, Ollie? I'm hurt." He crossed his arms, a charming smirk tugging at his lips. "Not that I mind having you put me to sleep." Leo seriously fucking winked at me. Oh come on! I just met you, stop being so attractive. Oliver rolled their eyes.

"No, I just needed someone to fix her walkman is all. I didn't come here so you could flirt with my friend. Y'all can do that later. C'mon, Lulu we gotta get you a weapon!" They grab my wrist and pull me away.

"I should have it done tomorrow!"

I glanced back at Leo, and waved with a soft smile. That's all I could really do. He waved back. I looked toward Oliver. "He's nice..." I trailed off. Oliver scoffs.

"I know him, Luna. He flirts with everyone. But I don't think he's capable of dating, considering he's married to his work. Besides..." He leads me to a shed full of old weapons. "He doesn't like to admit it, but he carries some serious baggage. I've seen him at his worst." The two of us fell silent, I stood there in thought. We all have baggage, that doesn't make us any less capable of affection. I shook my head and picked up a pair of fingerless gloves. They had a disk on the knuckles. I put them on, and when I flexed my hand just slightly, claws came out, Wolverine style. But also Freddy Krueger? I don't know. I thought it was cool at the time. I looked toward Oliver with a smile.

"I like these." They gave me Nepeta vibes above all else. Oliver shares the smile.

"They're yours."

(хорошенький = pretty)


	4. Flashback Now Y'all

Author = try to write in 2nd POV for a change

= Be Leo, one week prior to meeting Luna

You are now LEO VALDEZ, ONE WEEK PRIOR TO MEETING LUNA. There is one thing going through your mind right now and is that you absolutely need a haircut. This is getting out of control! It's getting caught in your goggles, in clips of metal, it even keeps getting singed on the very often occasion of your nose setting on fire. But NOOOOO. The Aphrodite kids have better things to do than give out free haircuts. Going outside of camp is dangerous, and you are not going to risk throwing this work away for a haircut.

Speaking of work, you remember that your siblings want you to TAKE A FUCKING BREAK FOR ONCE! But they don't understand! This is your life's work, leading up to this moment. You're saving a rare piece of machinery, fixing what once was perfection into something that is NOW perfection. Why, you're fixing up a mecha dragon of course! What else would you be doing? Fixing walkmans? You can do that in a few minutes! That's mere child's play to your genius, which people seem to forget you have.

Don't worry, Leo. At least you and your mother remember how smart you were.

But you aren't going to think about that right now! No, you have a job to do. You have to get these joints working again, and convert the energy source to solar power, and so much more!

But you are interrupted. The door to your forge is knocked upon, HARD. You know exactly who this is. What do they want now?

"Yea?!" You yell through the loud clunks of metal. "One second!" You stand up. Your joints crack, you've been sitting for hours. You open the door to meet the face of Oliver, your sibling.

Oliver runs his fingers through his electric blue hair. He has a giant smile on his face, his eyes wrinkled with happiness. What's got him in a good mood?

"What's got you in a good mood?" You ask, stepping outside and plopping down criss cross. Oliver paces.

"I was asked to take this Demigod to camp next week." They turn to you.

"Mhm?"

"I know her! She's my childhood friend, her name is Luna. I'm so excited! I haven't seen her in years, I'm sure she's worried about me, but still! What a coincidence, Leo. My best friend is A demigod!!"

You listen to them ramble on, and after a pause, you ask the first thing that came to mind.

"Is she cute???"

Your words cause Oliver to glare at you.

"Yes, I'm not letting you flirt with this one! Luna and Will: off limits, Leo!" They wave their hands around.

"I already know Will is off limits, I got an arrow in the arm last time I tried asking her out." It's true! She gave you a wicked scar because of it. All the Apollo kids had a laugh.

They plop down in front of you. "I'm serious, Leo. Please. She's been through a lot, even before we seperated. I'm sure she's even more traumatized than when I left her. I don't know how she would react to someone liking her, or in the off chance that you get together, I don't know how she'll react to a breakup. I can't risk it. I can't."

You lean back, smirking. You've found a loophole in his argument. "Then I wont break up with her."

Oliver doesn't find this funny. He groans. You snicker.

"Fine, fine. No best friend. Off limits. Got it." You hold your hands up in defense, standing up. "But seriously, is she cute?"

"Yes, I already said so."

"What does she look like?"

Oliver's facial expression softens. He must have realized that you weren't going to back down. He sighs, a nostalgic sigh.

"Gorgeous... Leo, you'd have to see for yourself. I remember her hair was this reddish copper, she cut it short when she was twelve and I've never seen it so flattering on someone. Her eyes... Damn. They almost look red, they're so auburn. She's just.. She's shorter than I am! I miss her so much... Gods..." They sigh, and pull their knees up to their chest, burying their face in their knees.

"Oh I see now." You came to a conclusion, but forget an important detail. "You don't want me pining after her because you like her."

Oliver looks up, their face contorted into a "WTF" expression.

"I like guys, Leo."

Right, that. You nod. "Right. Forgot."

Silence falls between you two. You couldn't help but wonder about the trauma Oliver talked about. They normally doesn't regard it like that, their mother died of cancer before they came to Camp. It's the thing you two have in common: using humor and apathy as a coping mechanism to deal with your lack of maternal support. Even you can admit it sometimes.

But... What could Luna have possibly gone through that caused Oliver to warn you about her? Did her mom die too? Where's her dad? Does she have any siblings?

You'd find out later. You have a dragon to fix.

= be Leo, one week later.

You are now LEO, ONE WEEK LATER. you have just met LUNA, and you think that gorgeous is an understatement. And short.

Luna is very short.

However you are WORRIED, because you are convinced that she doesn't speak English! She only said one word to you, that you don't understand. You'll have to ask Oliver later about her. Or just talk to her.

But they said she was off limits... Still, you still have that loophole, and another. They didn't say anything about not wanting him to be FRIENDS with Luna, right? You can still be friends with her! She looks like she needs friends anyway.

You look down at the walkman on your desk. Right! You have to fix that. It'll only take a few minutes of tinkering, but the cassette is still in there... Maybe you can take a listen later! Who knows what type of music Luna listens to? You're curious. You take the cassette out; and break the bad boy open.

All it took was swapping out a few parts and a dusting to get the old device as good as new. It works just fine, with no buffers at all now. You even gave it a new finish. You glance back at the white cassette labelled "To Alioluna, love Mom." Is it a good idea if it's from her mom? She didn't seem to have any trouble parting from it, at least from what you can see. It can't hurt to take a listen. You pop it in, plug your earbuds in, and get back to work on Festus, while also listening to some new music.

And it ain't that bad.


End file.
